


What a Wonderful Life

by pastaandscones



Series: How We Live [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Mommy May - Freeform, Skye has a family, Skye is a SHIELD agent, Skye was raised by shield, adoption fic, papa phil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-28
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-04 00:59:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2903501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastaandscones/pseuds/pastaandscones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twenty-something years ago, Phil Coulson walked into Nick Fury's office. Twenty-something years ago, he met an orphan baby, a 0-8-4, that stole his heart away.</p><p>In which Skye was raised by Coulson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> The title may change if I find a better one.

It was supposed to be a simple report. Go in, hand it the report, talk to Fury, than leave. Quick, simple, no pain whatsoever.

The fact that the report was even being given directly to Fury was a bit overkill, really. It was a simple bag-and-grab. A 0-8-4 was found in Missouri. No problems, and the 0-8-4 was captured.

He shouldn’t have questioned the baby carrier on Fury’s desk. He shouldn’t have looked inside at the baby girl.

“Sir, why is there a baby on your desk?” Phil asked, eyeing the carrier. He was pretty sure that Fury didn’t have any children.

Fury looked up from where he was looking over files. “She’s a 0-8-4. Agents recovered her in Peru.” The one-eyed man grunted, going back to his papers.

Phil peered into the carrier and found big brown eyes looking back at him. “And 0-8-4, Sir?” He asked, wiggling his fingers at the child. She giggled and gurgled back at him. Fury looked up once again, hard expression on his face. “But she’s so adorable.”

“She’s dangerous, Coulson.” Fury told him.

“But she’s just a baby.” Phil pulled a face at the girl, making her giggle again and clap.

“That may be true, Coulson, but that does that mean she won’t grow up to be one of the worse things this world will face.” Fury glared. “I’m arranging protection for her. She will be put-“

“I’ll do it.” It seemed like Fury’s remaining eye was about to pop out. “She would be safest within the agency, Director. I volunteer to raise her. It will be in the best interest for everybody.”

††††

Being a single, working father was hard. Especially being a single working father who had to spend weeks away from home due to his job. He hated leaving Skye alone, even if it was with a trusted SHIELD Agent.

“Daddy, Daddy!” Skye ran into his arms and peered back at the scruffy teenager that had been following behind him. For a girl of the tender age of five, Skye was extremely smart and could understand many things that went on around her, including death and the fact her daddy often put himself in danger for the good of others. She also recognized that some people pretended to be good to get into places they shouldn’t be. Phil blamed Melinda for Skye learning the last bit.

Or the rest of SHIELD, really.

“What are you wearing?” He asked, taking in her outfit. It was adorable, really. A cute little Captain America dress, with a silver and blue plastic tiara on her head. Only problem was he had no idea where she got it.

“Misses Hill gave it to me.” Skye beamed at him. “Because Captain America is the best ever.” She looked back at the boy. “Who’s he?”

Phil hoisted her up higher. “Skye, this is Clint. He’s going to be staying with us for a while.”

“Is he joining SHIELD?” She asked. Phil knew without having to look at him, Clint was scowling at the ground.

“Yes, but he has to wait for a bit before he can go to the Academy. So, he’s going to be living with us until he can go.” He put her down and watched as she marched up to him.

“I’m Skye.” She announced to him, surprising the boy. “I’m going to join SHIELD, too, when I’m big.”

Phil didn’t mention she was going to be joining over his dead body, because there was no way in hell his daughter was going to be an Agent.

††††

Clint Barton, as it turned out, was as much of a headache that Skye was. Phil had opened his house to the boy until he was of legal age (and after it, as well), continuing well into after the boy finished his SHIELD training and was going on missions.

Barton finished among top of his class and was the best sniper SHIELD ever had.

He also insisted on bringing home strays.

A dog, a cat, a hurt baby bird. Hell, he even brought home a turtle once.

And despite what he would have many believe, Barton was intelligent.

He always showed Skye as soon as he could, and let her fall in love with the scrawny animal before Phil could say anything.

That always made getting rid of the animal harder.

But, Fury had a dog now. That counted for something, at lease.

“Skye, come here. Now.”

But this, this was stupid. Even for Barton.

The ten year old looked at him with wide eyes, still hanging onto the older girl.

“But Dad!” She tried to plead.

“Now!” Phil barked. Skye scurried to his side with a pout. He spun to face Clint. “You. My office. We need to have a talk about disobeying orders.”

Clint, like the twenty-year-old he was, rolled his eyes and pushed off the wall. “I think it’s pretty simple, Coulson. She defected, I offered her help.”

“Office.” The girl, despite being the most dangerous being in the room at the moment, curled into herself slightly. She had tried to be strong, not to show her doubts about defecting, but there was only so long that one could hold a mask. “Skye, go to Agent Hill.”

The ten year old grumbled and stalked off. And really, Coulson should not have been surprised when he returned from lecturing Barton to see Skye had returned to Natalia, and was excitedly telling her about her gymnastics class.

††††

“I refuse.” Phil stated.

“I don’t care. I’m of legal age to apply.” Skye argued, throwing another shirt in her suitcase.

“I won’t let you join SHIELD. I will have Nick deny you entrance into the Academy.”

“Uncle Nick already agreed to let me go. Natasha and Clint helped me train for the physical exams, and Clint has been helping me with aiming.” Skye yelled, throwing her laptop on top of the pile of clothing. She closed the suitcase, pushing down as she zipped it shut. “You can’t stop me from going.”

“It’s too dangerous.” Phil argued. “I don’t care if it’s just the Communications division, you can get hurt.”

“You’re such a hypocrite!” Skye screeched, bringing the argument to what it really was about. “You say you don’t want me to join SHIELD, which you had worked for my entire life, because it’s _too dangerous_. Do you have any idea how it’s been like, waiting for you to get home after weeks. Not knowing if you would actually _come home_. Because you could be dead. Or being tortured. Or poisoned. Or have no extraction team waiting for you. Or, do you know how it felt, that one time when you actually did get captured by the enemy, and I thought you were dead? I cried and cried until Natasha and Clint came back with you, all three of you half dead. And if you think, for a second, that I’m going to sit on the sidelines for a second more. You’re dead wrong, dad.” Skye glared, tears pouring from her eyes. “I’m sick and tired of waiting, not knowing if you’re dead or alive. This way, I’m actually doing _something._ ”

††††

After their argument, Skye refused to talk to him. She went to the SHIELD Academy for Communications, and became the best hacker of her class. She also became one of the best field agents of her year.

He kept track of her. Through various Agents, and subtle hints from Strike Team Delta.

He knew of all her assignments. In the Hub, a small stint in the Sandbox, back to the hub. Placement in the Triskelion. She spent a lot of time under Victoria Hand.

The next time they met, there was a 0-8-4 in New Mexico.

She nearly refused to speak to him, giving him her report in a clipped, overly polite voice. She called him ‘Sir’ and ‘Agent Coulson’.

She had been cleared out with the rest of the techies when the aliens started their pissing match.

And the silent treatment went on.

If Coulson could say one thing about his little girl, she could hold a grudge.

††††

The doors slide open, and the Avengers continued staring at the bloodied cards on the table.

“Agent Coulson.” Director Fury stated, but there was something in his voice. The two remaining members turned to face the man they thought was dead.

But the Agent Coulson they saw was not the man they were expecting.  It was a young woman with messy hair and red eyes.

“Fury.” She sounded pissed. “Tell me what their saying is lies.” Hill hurried to the girl’s side, trying to tug her from the room. “Tell me he’s not dead. H-he can’t be.” She began sobbing slightly, as if she didn’t even see Tony and Steve. “I never got to apologize.” She said to Hill, something Steve was sure they weren’t supposed to hear, th door starting to close. “Now dad’s dead.”

That was the last straw for him.

††††

To be perfectly clear, Nick Fury wasn’t just any spy. He was _the_ spy. As Stark would say, his secrets had secrets and his contingency plans had contingency plans.

It wasn’t a stroke of luck that Skye Coulson had been placed on the Helicarrier. When he realized shit was going down, he had her assigned to the Helicarrier. It had been to keep the girl he had seen as a niece, the girl he had been named the godfather of, safe.

But it also worked to his advantage.

Especially when Skye learnt of her father’s death.

It hadn’t been an accident he had been informing the Avengers of Phil Coulson’s death when rumor finally got to Skye.

Even though Skye was the strongest girl he knew, even that would be enough to break anybody.

But Skye had always been a phoenix.

She rose from her destruction, and kicked Loki’s ass. It had been her who recovered the scepter, and she who closed the portal.

It was also she who marched into the room when they were having Thor’s send off and tried to shot the son of a bitch who killed her father. Granted, the mortal weapon didn’t have much effect on the god, but it was still amusing to see.

“Sir, you wanted to see me?” Skye asked, standing in his office in the Triskelion, a week after the Battle of New York.

“Yes.” He offered her a packet of papers. “Forms for an official mental health vacation, to grieve.”

“To be fair, Sir, I rather not.” She stared him in the eye. “I wish to be put on an assignment. As soon as possible.”

Fury nodded. “I figured you would say that. You have an appointment in half an hour with a SHIELD certified therapist. If you are cleared by them for field duty, you will be put on an assignment.”

He picked up another stack of papers and handed those to the young agent.

“What’s the assignment?” She asked as she opened the file.

“You are to infiltrate the ‘hacktivist’ organization called The Rising Tide.”


	2. Crack the Code, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a year since the Battle of New York, and there's a new SHIELD team out and about. Skye comes face to face with them.

‘ _The Secret is out. For decades, your organization stayed in the shadows, hiding the Truth. But now we know. Their among us. Heroes. And Monsters. The world is full of Wonders._ ’

Skye watched the man, Mike Peterson. She had orders to warn Mike Peterson from SHIELD. She had spent a year in The Rising Tide, and things had been getting muddled for her, like they tend to get on long term ops. Three months ago, she was officially removed from SHIELD records.

She, on the side, worked under the name “Freelancer”. To get some sort of income, so she could continue paying for gas and food.

She was sure Mike Peterson was nothing special. It was a fluke, SHIELD didn’t have him on their lists.

Then he punched into a wall and began climbing.

She played the curious bystander, recording the fire. She caught it on tape as Mike Peterson flung himself out of the top floor window and landed, without a scratch, with a woman in his arms.

She stared opened mouthed, not believing it. SHEILD had missed a Gifted.

As Peterson fled, Skye checked on the woman.

‘ _We can’t explain everything we see. But our eyes are open. So, what now? There are no more shadows for you to hide in. Something impossible just happened. What are you going to do about it?_ ’

††††

Skye admitted, she had a bit too much fun in The Rising Tide. Hacking into SHIELD, messing with their ops. Messing with her former organization.

She felt a bit bad about posting the coordinates for an 0-8-4, but the field agent after it was Grant Ward. She figured, from what she heard, he lived for this sort of thing.

††††

After messing with Ward’s op, Skye found herself more or less stalking Peterson.

She eventually corner Mike Peterson in a diner.

“Just act natural.” She told him, looking jumpy. She looked like somebody was after her, or listening in.

“What?” He stared at her with confusion.

“Act like we’re talking.”

“We are.”

“Good. You never know who’s listening.” She nodded.

“I don’t even know who’s talking.”

She grinned at him. “I’m Skye.” She said, like he should know that. “And you’re the hooded hero. Please tell me you’re not staying with that name.”

He tried to protest, to deny what she already knew.

“I’m a factory worker.” He told her.

“Sure. By _day_. I saw you! You’re a hero! Like a for real superhero! I’m not a groupie stalker type. God, that’s so cool.” She giggled and took a second to compose herself. “Ok, don’t draw attention.” She took a deep breath. “You’re in danger.”

“You got the wrong guy, lady.”

“No, you got the wrong approach. The cute girl from the hospital is _dying_ to thank you and possible _thank you_. And you’re here, hiding. You’re video has the most hits since that puppy with vertigo, and you can’t even find a job.” He hid his paper.

“What do you mean about danger?”

She took a deep breath, like she was going to give him a huge secret. “SHIELD.”

“Shield what? I should carry a shield?”

“SHEILD.” She stated again. “Government. Scary guys in suits, who’s after guys like you. They knew about the Battle of New York before it even happened. And they cleaned it up before anybody could ask any real questions! Over night! How long do you think it’ll take them to clean you up?” She sneered, like the thought left a bad taste in her mouth.

“And you want to know why I’m hiding?”

“What if you didn’t hide?” She asked. “What if you got in front of this? And let people know that you’re a hero!”

“I’m just a guy.” Mike said, looking at her like she was crazy. She probably sounded like a raving lunatic.

“Well, a guy like that gets work. Gets perks.” She resolved to find him real work after this was all done and over with. “I can help. I’m _great_ with computers. Like, really great. I can help you create a whole new identity! Or a _mask_.”

“Ok.” He grabbed his paper and stood.

“Or we could. We could also.” She followed after him, tripping over her words. “Stick with the hood. Listen, you cannot walk away from this. With great power comes.” She searched for the right words. “A ton of weird crap that you are not prepared to deal with. Now my office is right-“

“You have an office?” He seemed doubtful.

“Yes, I have an office.” She stared at him. “… It’s a mobile office. It’s a van, I live in. I live in a van. But by choice!” like that made all the difference. “But, it’s in the alley around the corner. Free wifi and you can come by any time.”

He thanked her and began walking away. She smiled, waved and said “Their coming for you!”

††††

“How will you come at us?” She spoke into the microphone. “From the air? From the ground? How will you silence us this time? How can you? In the wind. It’s everywhere. You cannot stop the Rising Tide. You will not _find us_ , you will never see our faces. But rest assured, we will Rise against those who Shield us from the Truth. And Nothing, _nothing_ , can stop us and-”

The door to the van opened, to reveal Melinda May and Grant Ward.

She turned and grinned. “Hey. Whaddup?”

Cue the black bag, because apparently they had a thing for cliché.

††††

When the black bag was removed, she was in a room with Ward and May. She took a steadying breath as Ward roughly pushed her into the chair.

“You are making a big mistake.” She pleaded.

“You don’t look that big.”  Ward told her as he went to stand by May. “There’s two ways we can do this.”

“ _Oh_ , so there’s the _easy way_?”

“No.”

She shifted, repeating the word. May looked on with amusement.

“What’s your name?” Ward asked.

She debated telling him her full name, debated on whether or not he would have heard of her or her father. “Skye.” She settled on.

“What’s your real name?”

“That can wait.” May cut in. “There’s another name we need. A hero.”

She took a breath. “What makes you think I know that?”

“You made a little mistake. The phone you filmed the hooded hero with had the same cryptographic signature as a few of the Rising Tide posts.” It was like he was taunting her. It made her blood boil.

“Wow.” She said slowly. “Was that a mistake? Or am I now sitting in the center of your secret headquarters? What is this?” She made a show of looking around her. She could hear the quite hum of the engines, recognized the room from the decommissioned Mobile Headquarters that had been stored at the Academy of Communications, the one that the students had taken over and made a lounge/hangout center the creatively called “The Hanger”. “A plane? I got inside. And by now you discovered you can’t beat the encryption on my equipment, so. You got nothing.”

“We have you, being on the scene. Right before it went up in flames. Want to tell me what we’re going to find here?”

“How did you know he was there?” May asked.

“Did you blow it up to draw him out?” Ward added.

“Did you?” She sneered right back.

“We don’t do that.” May stated, glaring at her.

“I was just _kidnapped._ SHIELD covered up New Mexico, Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. Of course you’d be covering up Centipede.” There was an awkward shuffle, and she saw Ward mouth ‘centipede?’ to May. “You don’t know what that is! Billion dollars of equipment at your disposal and I beat you with a laptop that I won in a bet?”

May straightened up. “You’ve been pulled.”

“What?” Skye blinked.

“You’ve been pulled from the Mission.” She repeated. Ward stared at her, mouth hanging open like a fish. “Report on what you’ve found.”

“I handed in my reports to Sitwall.” Skye stated.

“Wait, what’s going on?” Ward demanded, not liking the fact that he was in the dark.

Melinda set the files she been holding on the table. “For the pass year, Agent Coulson has been on assignment, infiltrating the Rising Tide. When she left on assignment, her records had been officially sealed, and she had been labeled a traitor to SHIELD. Officially.”

“I was to get as high up in The Rising Tide as possible, reporting back to Agent Sitwall.” Skye cleared. “Releasing only the information SHIELD authorized me to release, which may or may not include the former location of a 0-8-4 in Paris.” Ward gaped at her smug expression. “I pulled the Tide’s attention from SHIELD, kept them distracted, and spoon-fed them what SHIELD wanted them to know. I also found the holes in SHIELD security. What changed?”

“You’ve been reassigned to join us on the Bus.”

“Are you leading this one? I thought you were off field assignments.” Skye asked Melinda.

“I just drive the bus, but I am supposed to get your report.”

So, Skye divulged all the information she had found since her last debriefing with Agent Sitwall, including the location of one Mike Peterson.

“You really need to work on your personality.” Skye told Ward as they left the holding cell.

††††

First, she was introduced to Fitz-Simmons, a Biochemist and an engineer that seemed to meld into unit.

“You must be really excited, especially with-” Simmons began, but was elbowed by Fitz.

“So, who’s heading this operation?” Skye asked. Simmons seemed shocked.

“You mean, you don’t know yet?” The other girl asked.

“He thought it would be better to tell her in person.” Melinda glared at the Biochemist.

“Who thought it would be better to tell me what?” Skye glared at the woman she considered a mother.

“Just to be clear, it was neither of our idea to keep you in the dark.” That made Skye antsy. One thing she had always hated about SHIELD was the mass-ton of secrets it kept from the people working for it. True, there was times that secrets where unavoidable, secrets kept them safe. There where things that the agents where better off knowing, of course.

But the identity of her new Team leader?

And why was Melinda, of all people, apologizing? The last time Melinda apologized for something that was out of her control was when Skye’s dog (A gift from Clint) died when she was seven, and that was mostly because Melinda didn’t know how to handle a crying child.

Melinda led Skye up the stairs to what seemed to be an office. In said office, there was a chair that faced away from her.

Melinda stayed in the office, tense. She looked ready to break up a fight, which made Skye wonder who was sitting in the chair.

“I picked this team myself.” The man behind the chair said. The blood in her veins froze, her heart stopped. She knew that voice. “And of course, you would be on it. You are the top technology expert and hacker at SHIELD.”

“D-dad?” Skye croaked out. He stepped around the desk and she stepped forwards to meet him.

She didn’t know if she wanted to hug him, for being alive and not being dead and not dying thinking she was angry at him, or punch him, for being alive and not telling her and let her think he died thinking she was angry at him.

So, she did both.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel so disappointed in this chapter. Part one of probably two  
> And the fact I haven't posted since last year. ;)  
> Also, _What the fuck guys?_ I don't deserve all the kudos O.O  
>  Thank you so much for reading this story and liking it and leaving kudos on it.


End file.
